As part of research activities while pursuing a doctoral degree in Global Family Health and Well-being, I have been working on issues related to early childhood development and increasingly have been involved with training on measures to assess early childhood development, specifically the Preschool Language Scale in both English and Spanish, and the Global Scale for Early Development. In the trainer role, I strive to provide organized, supportive, and engaging trainings.  Based on my experience with training, I have outlined key principles that I follow. 
Keys to An Effective Training:

• Supplying a well-organized and structured training agenda. The agenda clearly communicates how day-to-day activities should progress, what will be expected of training participants, and what participants must do to successfully complete the training and achieve certification.
• Building relationships with and between training participants. Trainings should begin with activities to build relationships in order to create a judgement-free space to engage with content.  It is also helpful for the trainer to be vulnerable and honest about the difficulties of administering the measures.
• Emphasizing the importance of the data collector role. Sharing information with training participants about how they will contribute to larger work often motivates and facilitates active engagement in the training.
• Using different approaches and activities to deliver the content. I guide participants through the administration of the measure, assign activities for participants to learn the items in each measure, model the administration, and engage participants in role-play to apply content about the measures in a stress-free format
• Creating lots of opportunities for practice.  Opportunities for practice with feedback are critical for participants’ mastery of the administrations of instruments.
• Providing time and space for feedback. Informal discussions where participants can ask questions help to signal how well participants are relating to the content and where additional attention is needed

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been challenging to design effective trainings that can be conducted virtually. However, technology can help to bridge the distance between trainer and participant.
Recommended training tools:

• Yellowdig. The platform can be used for discussion with and between participants. I use the platform to ask informal questions about their interests and also provide guidance for training. The key to the successful use of YellowDig has been my commitment to responding to participant posts because it modeled the level of engagement I wanted from participants.

• Mentimeter. The tool has been a great resource to gather participant feedback. I have asked participants to rate each session/activity and suggest content they want more information about or activities to review. I actively use the information to inform that training by modifying the training agenda based on the feedback to ensure the participant get the support they need.